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Sunday, February 17, 2013

Packers First Pick, What The Blogsphere Thinks

Many many opinions on who the Packers will pick in round 1 and even more debate on position With that I set out to find what some of our Packer Bloggers thought.

The question given as follows : What position should the Packers draft with the first pick and why ?

We start with Brain Carriveau :

"The Packers have so many needs on both sides of the football, they just need to identify the best player possible in the first round. There are a few places the Packers absolutely do not need to add any help, at least in the first round, namely at quarterback and cornerback. But apart from those two positions, they could use help almost anywhere on the field. Now that Charles Woodson has been released, they could use a safety. Green Bay could decide to part ways with A.J. Hawk next and find a playmaking inside linebacker to replace him.

The defensive line needs depth at the very least. Thanks to injuries to Bryan Bulaga and Derek Sherrod, grabbing an offensive tackle can be considered a need, as is finding the center of the future. Adding a featured running back to help the Packers create a balanced offense isn't out of the question. Now that Donald Driver has retired and Greg Jennings and Jermichael Finley could be next to leave town, the Packers might need to find another receiving threat whether it be at wide receiver or tight end. Really, the Packers can't go wrong by addressing any one of these positions. It's more important that they identify a player that's going to help from Day One and not be a bust or a player that takes three years to develop."

My choice is defensive line. I feel good about the Packers secondary with the young players they have back there that gained valuable experience last season by necessity of injuries. The linebacking corps will be much improved with Bishop and Perry (and Smith) returning, so that leaves our defensive line, where performances have been hit or miss.

To me the only predictable guy on the DL is Pickett, and if history tells us anything, the Packers are unlikely to keep him at his age when his contract expires after this season. BJ Raji sometimes gives you a great game, sometimes gets knocked around like a rag doll. I'm not that high on Worthy or Daniels to be significant contributors. CJ Wilson is a solid backup forced into a starting role and with Mike Neal, who knows what he really is? The Packers need a lineman who will be a force up front, causing problems and drawing double teams, freeing the linebackers to make plays. This is a strong draft for defensive linemen and there are several good choices likely to be available when the Packers are up.

I really think safety is a position of dire need right now. Ever since Nick Collins was lost in 2011, the secondary-hell, the entire defense- has struggled. It just doesn't instill any type of fear in the opponents anymore. I thought moving Woodson back could have been a smart move, albeit a few years late, but with his release after one year as a safety, we'll never really know. Morgan Burnett is a nice player, but he just doesn't create any big plays. MD Jennings and Jerron McMillian might be players in the future, but they're not right now.

By getting a player who can create plays deep again, the entire defense would benefit. Safety is not only a position of need for the Packers, it's a position they absolutely need to fix if they want to have any shot for a deep playoff run.

Linebacker or OL for sure, but Ted Thompson has gone with value over need in the past, so I'll trust him on whoever he picks. With A.J Hawk nearing the end of his time in Green Bay and question marks around the health of Desmond Bishop, a mauler at ILB is needed. Given that Clay Matthews seems to be the only capable weapon and sure tackler out of the group, it's a position I'd like to see upgraded. Poor tackling has been a problem for the team for years now.

Oh, and it never hurts to have linemen who can effectively block and protect Rodgers. Imagine how far the offense could progress if Rodgers had a good like and if our backs had real blocking.

With the departure of Charles Woodson, I would definitely place at top priority bringing in that free safety the Packers have been missing since the departure of Nick Collins. We really saw how important it is to have a "quarterback of the defense", a smart, rangy, athletic safety who can not only see the whole field in front of them, but make the critical calls to get the players in front of him in the right place.

While there's a huge need to upgrade the talent along the defensive and offensive lines, a strong free safety could transform the entire defense, just as Collins did for the '10 Packers and Eugene Robinson did for the '96 Packers. Kenny Vaccaro (Texas) might fall to the Packers at #26, otherwise the Packers should be able to pick up Eric Reid (LSU)--even trading back a few picks and still coming away with the next LaRon Landry.